


A Family by Any Other Name

by sbarmarj



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-19
Updated: 2016-04-19
Packaged: 2018-06-03 04:40:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,390
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6597094
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sbarmarj/pseuds/sbarmarj
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Laura bit back a sigh. She had made a promise to Nat. “Clint you aren’t going to shoot apples, oranges or anything else off of Sam Wilson’s head.” </p>
<p>Clint leaned back on his haunches and gave her the same look Cooper got when he she told him that it was bedtime. “I wasn’t going to put it on top of his head. I was going to have him hold it in his mouth.” Clint’s eyes lit with inspiration. “Carrots! I’ll use my knives. Slice it right down to his nose.”</p>
<p>Families have their own ways of showing love and bonding. Laura knew this, but it didn't mean that she liked that her husband's preferred bonding method involved trick-shots and the vegetable drawer.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Family by Any Other Name

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Rina (rinadoll)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/rinadoll/gifts).



> Dear Rina,
> 
> I think that I may have run a little lose with your prompt, but in your letter you said you wanted to know about Laura's backstory, which I get because I do too. So I started this, and really it doesn't have anything to do with Laura's backstory, but its a nice moment in her marriage to Clint and Nat.

“Hey, hon, do we have apples?” Clint yelled, mostly into the kitchen, away from where Laura was sitting on the porch watching Cooper play frisbee with Sam and Natasha, while Steve tried to explain BBQing to the Vision. Laura ignored Bucky who was silently sitting on the other porch swing watching. She knew that Wanda and Lila were collecting salad greens in the garden and that the woman didn’t need to be touching Bucky to keep the worst of his demons at bay. Laura still breathed a little easier when Wanda was watching Bucky with her eyes, and not just her mind. The rest of their guests were chatting together, and Laura was enjoying her moment of peace while the baby slept. 

“No.” Laura answered firmly, standing and walking into the house. Nat looked up at the movement, and nodded to let Laura know she was taking over kid duty. Laura winked back at her, and enjoyed having her co-parents home again. 

Clint smiled at her when she entered the kitchen. The refrigerator door was open and he had clearly been rifling through the produce drawer. “Are you sure? I guess I could use an orange, but apples work so much better.” 

Laura bit back a sigh. She had made a promise to Nat. “Clint you aren’t going to shoot apples, oranges or anything else off of Sam Wilson’s head.” 

Clint leaned back on his haunches and gave her the same look Cooper got when he she told him that it was bedtime. “I wasn’t going to put it on top of his head. I was going to have him hold it in his mouth.” Clint’s eyes lit with inspiration. “Carrots! I’ll use my knives. Slice it right down to his nose.”

Laura did sigh this time. She pinched the bridge of her nose and prayed for patience. “Clinton Wendell Barton. Leave the man alone. No knives, no arrows, no guns, no trick-shots of any kind.”

“Well how the hell am I supposed to get to know him then?” Clint asked exasperatedly. 

“You can have a catch with him.” Laura grabbed Cooper’s well loved mitt and tossed it at her husband. 

Clint caught it naturally as he stood up and closed the fridge, though there was still rampant confusion on his face. “Catch? Seriously?”

“I promised Nat that I wouldn’t let you scare away the good ones.” Laura replied with fondness as she met her husband in the middle of the kitchen. She wrapped her arms around him. Even in the muggy July air she loved the way he radiated heat that warmed her better than any sunshine. 

“Good ones?” Clint sounded befuddled as he returned her hug. He had never mastered controlling his reactions around her. Nat on the other hand struggled to let Laura see her real emotions. Poking and prodding at Nat’s moods could be fun--it satisfied the part of Laura that had aced all her psych classes, but Clint’s easy, honest, and evident emotions were comforting. 

Laura kissed his cheek and replied, “Don’t play dumb sweetie, it’s a bad look on you.” Clint’s chest rumbled with a grunt that was matched by Laura’s own laugh. “You’re looking for the apples because Sam Wilson has a bit of a crush on Nat.”

“Crush?” Clint shuddered with outrage at her description of Sam’s behavior as he spoke. “Sam is all puppy dog eyes and smooth flirting. Couldn’t he have caught Steve’s awkwardness instead of Cap picking up Sam’s moves?”

Laura smiled at her husband’s annoyance. Before Sam came along Clint had been Steve’s most frequent tutor in modern life and love. According to Nat, Clint’s understanding of flirtation had not improved over the course of their marriage. In short, it was like the deaf teaching the blind to read aloud. Laura knew they wouldn’t be here in this kitchen, married with kids, if she hadn’t asked Clint out to dinner the third time he suggested they go to the shooting range together. 

“Hon, he let me know that he is planning on courting Nat.” Clint whined, sounding quite like his daughter. 

Laura’s lips twitched at the old fashion turn of phrase. It seemed like Steve might be rubbing off on Sam too. Clint sounded torn between admiration and irritation. Laura agreed with the admiration. Sam was a smart man to make nice with Clint. So many of the men who were interested in Natasha were threatened by her relationship with Clint. Some reacted by avoiding Clint at all costs, and others challenged him at everything. None of them had tried conversing with Clint as an equal. 

Laura ignored her husband’s whining and replied sincerely, “He told me the same thing. Well he didn’t say courting, but he told me that he was interested in Natasha and respected our relationship and he didn’t want me to feel that he was trying to threaten it.” Laura made sure to keep her voice neutral. She had been impressed with Sam, who was the first man to pursue Natasha who had also thought to approach Laura. Even before they agreed that Laura would live on the farm with the children, well only one kid at the time, and resign her position with SHIELD, everyone assumed she tolerated Nat at best. Out on the farm none of them had to explain. 

Laura was intrigued that Sam correctly deduced Natasha’s role in their marriage. Most people weren’t that observant. 

“It’s just…” Clint’s voice drifted off. 

“I know.” Laura hugged Clint a little bit tighter. It had been a hard few months. She understood why her husband sided with Steve, and why Natasha followed Tony. It wasn’t lost on Laura that having the two of them on different sides meant her family was protected by both camps. It was classic Clint and Nat--so different, and yet exactly the same when it came to the people they loved. Laura appreciated that neither of them ever let the difference in sides stop them from talking to her, but it had been hard to be their go between, and the center that held their family together at home while Clint and Nat publicly battled. 

All three of them understood that their family would survive, but there was still work to be done bridging the divide. This wasn’t the moment to focus on that deeper issue though. 

Laure returned to the apparent topic at hand, “Babe, we talked about this when she was interested in Dr. Banner.” 

Laura felt Clint’s acknowledging nod more than she saw it. Laura understood Clint’s insecurity; if she was entirely honest with herself she shared it. Nat had never really pursued a romantic relationship before, and it was new for all of them. 

Clint had understood from the first moment he aimed an arrow at Nat that her physical scars paled in comparison to her still bleeding emotional wounds. Their childhoods had been different versions of tragic and abusive, but they were united in their status as orphans. It wasn’t just the lack of parents--it was the simple fact that both of them had never had people who loved them. There had been adults who had used them, teachers who trained them, and people who invested time and money in Clint and Nat, but none of them loved them or considered them family. 

Neither of them needed a lover, they needed to be loved and that was what they found with each other. But, it had only been part of what they needed. Laura knew the first time she went to Clint’s bare, efficiency apartment with it’s gleaming kitchen sink and hand-sewn curtains that he craved a home and roots. Just like Laura understood that Nat was far more intimidated by the intimacy of Laura brushing her hair, than Nat was of actual sex. Laura gave Clint the anchor he craved, and she pushed Nat to confront her demons. 

Laura wasn’t sure if Nat’s interest in Dr. Banner or her openness to Sam was because Nat wanted to try linking intimacy and sex, or because she was sincerely interested in the men. With Bruce, Laura thought it was the former; with Sam she hoped it was the latter. 

“Bruce is a good guy, but I think Sam is better for Nat.” Clint mumbled into Laura’s hair. “Bruce has never learned to deal with his fear.”

Most people at SHIELD had wondered what Laura, an ivy-league educated Ph.d and expert on psychological conditioning, could possibly see in a man who had never graduated high school. Laura had never been that impressed with most of her colleagues. The majority were too comfortable following the rules, many of them were naive enough to believe that they were the good guys, and a few of them had a righteous arrogance that always set her teeth on edge. She hadn’t been exactly surprised when Hydra ripped SHIELD apart from the inside. 

But, a few people had understood her interest in Clint. Out of the blue Phil had complimented her on her excellent taste, and Maria discreetly always let Laura know when Clint completed a mission safely. They understood that not only did Clint Barton see farther than other people, he saw deeper, past social niceties, public faces, and private intimacies until he had the real measure of a person. 

Clint continued with a sigh, “Nat needs people who aren’t scared of her. Its why she likes it here.”

Laura wasn’t sure if Clint meant the farm specifically, or Iowa generally, but it was true that Nat’s guard was a little looser at home. Here she was Aunt Nat, queen of kitchen dance parties, splinter remover extraordinaire, and the best lullaby singer. She was the person who listened to all of Clint’s plans for the house, and made sure to take out the trash when Laura forgot.

Laura laughed quietly, “I personally find Nat terrifying.”

“Nat is terrifying, but you aren’t scared of her,” Clint responded firmly. “You’ve never been scared of her.”

“Neither have you.” 

It was Clint’s turn to laugh, “I’m not smart enough to be scared of Nat.”

“What did I say about dumb being a bad look on you?” Laura angled her head back so she could meet her husband’s eyes. “We are both smart enough to not be scared of Nat, and stupid enough to make this marriage work.”

It was the central truth of their relationship. Somehow all three of them stupidly believed that they could make it work, so it did work. Clint needed to learn how to be a part of a family, Nat needed to learn to accept intimacy, and Laura needed to learn to stop studying people and let relationships grow organically. She could never have guessed that the most organic relationship would be one with Nat as a full partner in their life, though not their bed. 

“It will keep working, even if Nat does decide to date Sam.” Laura finished speaking by pressing a kiss to Clint’s bemused lips. “It will work better if you don’t terrify Sam and piss off Nat. NO. TRICK-SHOTS.”

“Catch it is I guess.” Clint sighed dramatically for good effect and grabbed Cooper’s baseball glove and the extra they kept with the other sports gear in the mudroom before heading outside. Laura watched him walk out and toss a glove to Sam who caught it and gave Clint a hard look. Sam knew he was being tested, and Laura liked his self awareness. She liked his confidence more, and she really liked how well adjusted he was. Well adjusted was in short supply in SHIELD and the Avengers.

Clint was right. Sam was a better man for Nat. Bruce never learned to live with fear. Laura understood why Nat might find that attractive, or rather why Nat might think that it would mean Bruce could handle being in a relationship with her. What Nat incorrectly assumed was that Bruce was brave because he lived with fear. No, Nat was brave every time she let Clint hug her, or Laura rub her back. Nat worked so hard to learn what intimacy she wanted and to establish boundaries of her own choosing. 

Bruce ran when he should have fought, hid when he should have asserted himself, and stayed silent too much--all out of fear. The Hulk was the manifestation of id; uncontrolled and pure instinct, but Bruce’s ego and super-ego weren’t exactly walks in the park either. 

Sam was a happy guy. Laura recognized his happiness--it was like hers. He worked hard for it. He valued it too much for it to be anything else than a deliberate achievement. He wore his scars with pride, loved easily, and was kind when other people chose to be bitter. 

Nat was terrifying. But so was a gun in the wrong hands, or a Eskrine’s serum in the wrong person. They were simply tools that could be used for good or evil. Nat was trained to be a tool, and for so many years never had the power to choose how she was used. Ever since that moment in Budapest when Clint lowered his bow, Nat had been making a series of choices to figure out who she was. Nat was still a terrifying tool, but she was also a person who liked blue M&Ms the most, and who remembered to tuck in all of Lila’s stuffed animals in the exact order Lila required.

Bruce was too scared to see the distinction, but Laura suspected Sam was well aware of it. He followed Nat with an interest that showed attraction and something deeper. It was more than lust though, it was respect and curiosity. Laura knew the look. It was how she use to study Clint at the range when he tried to teach her how to shoot. 

Laura’s wool gathering was interrupted by a slamming door and the heavy clopping steps unique to preteen boys. 

“Hey, mom?” Cooper asked as he reached for a glass. His hair was plastered to his skin, and he smelled of sweat and grass. 

“Yes, Coop?” Laura replied while she closed the cupboard. Cooper was alway leaving them open. 

“Why are all the apples in the compost bin?”

Laura took a deep breath to hide her smile, “Just doing a favor for your Aunt Nat.”


End file.
